My late father treasured his career in academic medicine, but he did concede that the politics of academia were rather byzantine at times. However, even my father didn’t expect those politics to get this brutal:

The dean of medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has temporarily stepped down, three weeks after her husband was mugged in the aftermath of announced layoffs at the school.
Dr. Valerie Parisi will “focus her attention on personal and family members” until Oct. 1, said a news release on UTMB’s Web site Wednesday.
Parisi had led reorganization efforts that include layoffs of about 1,000 employees and a change in professors’ salary structure ó moves that have roiled the campus.
Soon thereafter, on July 27, Parisi’s husband, Gary Strong, was attacked by three masked men while walking his dog. One of the men told Strong his wife “doesn’t know who she’s (expletive) with,” leading police to believe the attack may have been related to the layoffs.

Sheesh!